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WWF:Nova Cronum
AUTOBOT MILITARY REQUEST TO OPERATIONS: Given Decepticon Operations in the area, we are requesting a temporary supply/repair base, model AA-23B outside Nova Cronum. Location: 332-N 12.5 E Designate:Firebase Solace. Standard shipment guard teams are already assigned. Which leads to the here and now. A large flatbed transport, the same sort used for the train supply routes, slowly crawls along the route. On the back of it, lay a bevy of supplies. Metal reinforcement, quick-dry Crete, wiring, and the big ticket item, a shut down arc-fusion reactor, that takes up most of the transport, its recognizable circular disc layout and blue duraglass on display in the sunlight. Imager slouches atop the transport casually, still fiddling with her mighty shield. <> Imager grimaces as a few more flakes of her special armor flake off of the shield, due to her poking at it. << ...yeaaahhh, okay. So. Any of you guys do shield fixer-upper stuff in addition to telling me scrap I already know? >> <,"No, Ma'am. >> <> The inexorable transport grinds along.... Combat: Arcee sets her defense level to Guarded. Arcee is also aboard the transport, keeping watch over the supplies with both pistols drawn. The Decepticons' recent aggressive tactics give her no doubt that this transport is going to encounter trouble like a picnic encounters swarms of hungry ants. Normally, she'd be trying to strike up a conversation with Imager, but she's too busy monitoring the open channels and staring out at the open plains...waiting, and guarding. <'Autobot'> Imager says, "You know Arcee...I'm kinda slow, but this is just...its like pulling rivets, you know?" <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "That it is." <'Autobot'> Imager says, "you, uh...you can't fix shields can ya? I put in a request last week after that hozenozzle Combaticon sorta broke it, but..well, nobody's been gettin to it." <'Autobot'> Imager sounds a bit anxious over it all. <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "Nope. I've got some spare shielding material you might be able to use in a pinch, but that's not really going to help you because I've got nothing to weld it into place properly." <'Autobot'> Imager grunts. Razorclaw would be lying if he didn't admit he was mildly surprised and decently pleased that the tactic with the dock diversion and drone seige of Nova Cronum had worked as it did. Fortunately, his rank meant he didn't have to say anything other than the acknowledgements of it occuring successfully. As well as they had worked, the Predacon Commander still prefered to do things with actual soldiers, or when the need comes for it, himself. Such as patrolling the plains surrounding the region under seige. Vast, open plains that would make tactical stealth for the more frail scouts a terrible unlikelihood with the inevitable attempt by the Autobots trying to reinforce what hold they still have. Speaking of... As soon as the sound of a vehicle chugging across the land reached his ears and the ting of exhaust assaulted his olfactory sensors, the mechanical beast was off in the direction it was coming from. <> With a disdainful shrug, Blast Off transforms into a space shuttle. <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "...Yeah, I know what you mean. Not the best response time to a simple request. Not sure what the problem is, but there definitely is one." Space Shuttle flies high overhead as he receives Razorclaw's transmission. <> The space shuttle adjusts wing elevons and tilts his nose upwards just a bit as he lowers in altitude towards the Predacon's coordinates. His long-range scanners sweep the area, and sure enough... Autofools. <> <'Autobot'> Imager says, "I'm gonna go like...mess up Torque's stuff or somethin" Imager sighs to herself, then runs her fingers over her shield a bit more. She's actually babying her shield, trying to fix the dent in it with sheer power, but it only works a little, more of her quad-layered eledinium flakes off. She looks at the flakes in her hand in discomfort and dismay. << "Operations, we've got radar sign. >> She doesn't respond, her optics wide as she looks at her hand. To her, it's like a trusted weapon, an iconic part of her motif, a good friend restricted to the repair bay. << Operations? Big Grey? >> She snaps her head up finally, <> A few moments later she adds, <> She looks aside to Arcee, "Hey Pinkiepie, we got trouble, you've got range. You've got lead support on the fliers..." She trudges back to the rest of the security team, "Hope there's grounders otherwise Imma gonna have some problems here." Combat: Imager sets her defense level to Protected. Arcee smirks slightly. "Pinkiepie??" She's heard worse from Firestorm, but really?? "...Acknowledged, and...I'll remember that." She watches the incoming blip get closer and closer at some remarkable speed. Now who's that fast...in the air? She already knows the answer to this, and she doesn't much like it. But she waits for the moment when he comes into range... Razorclaw considers Blast Off's offer for a few moments on the inbound. It would be a clean and concise answer to the matter. But it would also take some of the thrill out of the hunt. That, and the Nova Cronum operation was still in precious early stages. Right now, a crushing of the Autobot's foolish optimism and moral was just as important, maybe even more so, than physically breaking them. <> As the familiar black and orange form of the heavily armed lion appears over the horizon Razorclaw announces himself with the appropriately booming roar. Which is followed in kind by several shots from his shoulder guns. Nothing is going to hit the transport at this range, but the concussive shells exploding mid-air makes plenty of noise to draw attention to him. Razorclaw wants as much focus as he can draw on himself rather than the inbound Combaticon overhead. <'Autobot'> Imager says, "Eh?" <'Autobot'> Imager says, "Arcee, what do your L-F optics see?" <'Autobot'> Imager says, "erm you still got Look Far optics, right?" <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "Um. Not exactly, but...maybe I can improvise." Space Shuttle radios back, <> In the meantime, he radios the army of drones the Combaticons now have on hand in Nova Cronum. <> He sends the coordinates and continues down towards the Autobot transport. Imager raises her head, hearing the sound of cannon fire. "And that's my cue." Her slow, methodical pace increases as she plods along around the transport, towards Razorclaw's side, her shield in hand. With a scowl, she surveys the distance. "Oh look!" She slams her shield onto the ground in challenge, "It's that rustbucket who done annoyed the smelt out of me before." Imager takes a low, spread stance, then draws her short barreled plasma shotgun, firing a few shots at Razorclaw. "Woah-ho, your processor ain't working right if you're coming back for seconds, Con. Last time we fought, I punched you so hard, you were babbling in pre-war Cybertronian." And now sweet, sweet vengeance is hers perhaps, as she lays into Razorclaw with her weaponry, sending several barrels of plasma at him! Combat: Imager sets her defense level to Neutral. Combat: Imager strikes Battle Lion with her Plasma Shotgun attack! -2 Combat: Gained 1 energon. Combat: Arcee sets her defense level to Aggressive. Looking skyward with anticipation now, Arcee has her LOOK-FAR optics on! ...OK, she has no such thing, but she DOES have a special visor that allows her to gauge her skyward shots a little easier (http://www.bellcity.ne.jp/~wild7/anime/transformer/2010/Cybertron/arcee.jpg), and that slides into place as she prepares to 'greet' her favorite Combaticon with whatever ordinance is on hand. "Gunners, let's let him know we're paying attention," Arcee says, and she and some of the other gunners begin targeting Blast Off as best they can. Kind of a difficult moving target, but they have to give it their best try. Combat: Arcee misses Space Shuttle with her Laser attack! For a moment Razorclaw isn't certain if he should be amused at Blast Off actually talking back to him despite the fact he could probably shred the shuttle in three swipes (in consideration of how many tries it would take to land the blows) or annoyed. In the end it comes to the usual indifference fostered by the time spent leading the likes of Headstrong and Tantrum. Instead he focuses on the matter at the head, even as a couple of plasma shots burn into his armor. Don't even need to hear the attempt at trashtalk to know whom that belong to. Make sense they would send one of their heftier soldiers as an escort. As he closes in on the transport Razorclaw lags behind just briefly as he stops to crouch, only to make up for the faint loss in distance by using his jumping ability to launch himsef towards the transport, transform, and come down towards the hauler's bed with a spinning motion to sweep his sword in a wide arc intent on sending Imager and whatever mook guards she has with her scattering. Razorclaw rises up into his formidable robot mode. Combat: Razorclaw strikes Imager with his Sweeping Slash attack! -2 Combat: Razorclaw (Razorclaw) used "Sonic Sword": A Level 2 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 3 damage. <'Autobot'> Imager says, "Okay it's not fair, Cons can jump that far AND fly" Space Shuttle easily evades the shots. The shuttle is frustratingly (for many of his enemies) difficult to hit, and he simply banks sharply to and for to avoid any hit. "Ah, standard Autofool aiming abilities, I see...." he says smugly. Now within visual range, the shuttle starts circling overhead, content to rain down laserfire below. He aims so as not to hit Razorclaw. Meanwhile, the drones come closer to the action.... Combat: Space Shuttle strikes Arcee with his Acid? Rain (Laser) attack! -1 The Bot security detail scrambles as Razorclaw pounces in their midst, his blade biting deep into one's hip, leaving him sprawled on the ground, partially underneath the transport, which is still in motion. Imager however is barely phased by the sonic blade slash. She turns to face Razorclaw. "Yeah, sonic attacks? Don't work so well on me." She gives Razorclaw a cold stare as she stalks past him to stand before the downed Autobot. "Big Kitty likes to pick on the weak ones eh?" She clenches her fist, "Howsabout I make YOU the little kitty, huh?" The Femme rears back her big fist of steel, then moves to deliver a hard punch to Razorclaw's stomach. Before she even sees if the move lands, her shield arm is already in motion to clock Razorclaw in the head in swift follow-up...assuming she hits of course. Combat: Imager sets her defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Imager strikes Razorclaw with her The Old One-Two! attack! -1 Combat: Drained 8 energon. Arcee isn't shielded by very much, so she ends up getting tagged by some of the drone fire. Undaunted, she lets the gunning detail work on taking out the drones for a bit, while she concentrates on tracking Blast Off. It's so simple to get distracted in battle, but she's been working on weeding out those distractions in training. Combat: Arcee takes extra time to aim her next attack. Razorclaw has faught Imager enough times to not be surprised by her tactics. He drops his sword to his side to free one hand up and block her punch with his other palm, pivoting both to shove her arm aside and take her shield blow from the side. Though her size and toughness is still enough to make him take a measured step back from the impact all the same, to keep from being smashed entirely off the truck bed. "War makes no differation," he replies in a measured tone to the remark. "Those foolish enough to keep standing in the way eventually fall like everyone else." As he resets his stance he regrips his sword and starts to raise it as if to strike...only for his shoulder cannons to lock down and open fire. <'Autobot'> Imager says, "uhh." Combat: Razorclaw strikes Imager with his Twin Concussion Blasters attack! Combat: Razorclaw (Razorclaw) used "Twin Concussion Blasters": A Level 4 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: You took 6 damage. <'Autobot'> Imager says, "oh, heh, thought he was going to hit me there" Space Shuttle continues circling around, almost lazily, as the drones approach and begin firing on the Autobot transport. "If you Autofools ever showed any common *sense*, you'd just turn tail and run away. Of course, that won't do you much good out here. Actually, come to think of it, if you had any sense you'd have never come out here at all.... but you've never really demonstrated any common sense before, so why would you start now?" He aims another shot, still keeping the blasts small and precise... for now. You say, "Autofool this, inevitable that. blah blah blah." Combat: Imager compares her Strength to Razorclaw's Strength: Success! Combat: Space Shuttle strikes Arcee with his Still Raining (Pistol) attack! Imager finishes her thought as she puts her big Torque-like hands on Razorclaw. "You think WE sound the same, I mean...I'm all SORTS of innovative here" She drives her knee into Razorclaw's gut, trying to keep him away from his swordplay. While his cannon move did surprise her, the impact was spread out a great deal on her pauldrons, quite possibly the toughest part of her frame, leaving minimal impact. "But, I guess if you guys hadn't gotten past the 'destroy you all' thing in fifty eons..." She pulls at Razorclaw, using her raised knee as a fulcrum to simply throw him to the ground, face down. Combat: Imager strikes Razorclaw with her Knee into Kitchen Sink throw attack! -2 Combat: Drained 5 energon. Arcee is not allowing Blast Off's usual schpiel get to her this time. She's just not having it. He does it to distract, anyhow, which is understandable yet *annoying* all at once. "OK, gunners, on my mark...wait for it...let's try and tag him..." 'Him', of course, being the bloviating enerwine shuttleformer himself! She raises both pistols in the air, and the other gunners begin targeting, too. "Now! Go!!" Arcee and the gunners...do their best, with what they have at their disposal. Combat: Arcee strikes Space Shuttle with her Dual Heavy Blaster Pistols attack! <'Autobot'> Imager says, "you lemme know if you need fuelin...but uh...don't need fuelin soon cuz I gotta beat this Razorclaw mech up till he's coughing up rivets." The knee impacts with the Predacon's midsection, giving Imager the leverage she needs to throw his bulk down over it and into the hard unforgiving platform beneath them. The entire thing probably shook from that impact, because that's a lot of mech to throw around and knock down, and even he had to feel that one. Yet it's a gruff, almost growling chuckle that Razorclaw emits. "Unorthadox, prehaps... but you seem to think you are the one controlling the fight." With the striking speed honed by a lifetime on the warfront Razorclaw rolls onto his back and and then partially sits up to thrust his sword upward at the femme's midsection while she's standing over him. Combat: Razorclaw strikes Imager with his Sonic Sword attack! Combat: Razorclaw (Razorclaw) used "Sonic Sword": A Level 4 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 8 damage. Combat: Razorclaw's attack damages your armor. <'Autobot'> Imager says, "grraaahhh!" <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "Oh no! Hang in there, Imager..." <'Autobot'> Imager says, "oh I'm fine....I just HATE IT WHEN THIS GUY BREAKS MY ARMOR!" Space Shuttle keeps circling around lazily, dodging enemy fire and starting to get a little bored, even. "Really, does NO ONE in the Autofool army even go OUT on the shooting range, or do you all just randomly point guns in the air and hope it-" His smug snarkiness is interrupted, however... as Arcee and her gunners DO land a hit this time. "Gahhh!" Several shots tear across his fuselage, leaving a trail of sparks in their wake. Ok, now they have his attention. "WELL. I guess *someone* has been practicing, after all." The Combaticon transforms into his root mode and glares down at them. "Still, any measly skills you have pale in comparison to MINE." And he puts Arcee dead in his sights and squeezes the trigger! Blast Off shifts into his battle-ready robot mode. Combat: Blast Off strikes Arcee with his Now watch a true master at work! attack! -2 Imager reels back two steps from Razorclaw's attack. She looks at her chestplate in dismay, her hand again touching the chips of armor that come away. An entire layer of her quad-folded elendium just crumples to the ground. The Femme's optics go wide, "I......" She steps backwards again, a single step, but away from Razorclaw. Her optics focus on Razorclaw, "You...you're..." Hesitation takes her for another moment before she starts to rally, "No way, Nuh-uh! You bashin my armor, you dunno who you're messing with!" Several duplicates of her form, stepping out of her frame, a small squad of raging Femmes. "I'm Imager, you bottom feeder, Best armored, and infatiguable! You're getting your aft beat NOW!" She moves to kneel, her body splitting into her hovercraft form. The solar array on her hovercraft angles forwards, "SAY GOODBYE!" Light pours out of the refueler, finding the channels in her array, then converge together into a powerful beam, a hyper beam that sprays pure energy towards Razorclaw, intent on nuking him inside and out! Imager kneels, then splits as she lays flat, then outer casing of her hovercraft mode sealing into position around her. The hovercraft shudders, then folds in half. Imager stands up from around it, her ramplates becoming her pauldrons as the last step. hImager has arrived. Type 'holo ' to control your hologram. Type '+holo/dismiss' to turn it off. Halted: hImager(#7791) Imager kneels, then splits as she lays flat, then outer casing of her hovercraft mode sealing into position around her. Combat: Heavy Hovercraft mager> sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Heavy Hovercraft mager> strikes Razorclaw with her Hyper Beam! It better be SUPER EFFECTIVE! attack! Combat: Drained 17 energon. <'Autobot'> Imager says, "hurrrrghh that takes a lot out of me" Arcee grunts in pain as a large chunk of her armor is blown off. "Why don'tcha come over HERE...and say that," she says with an angry leer, and quietly clicks over the settings on one of her pistols as she targets Blast Off again. "...I think I know why," she taunts. Combat: Arcee misses Blast Off with her Disruptor attack! As the femme staggers back from his blow Razorclaw rolls himself backwards onto his feet and rises up. "And yet you have a fit over cosmetic damage. Tch. Here I thought prehaps you would have some making of an actual warrior, not just using layers of armor to hide beneath." The appearance of multiple angry females doesn't phase him, even if he can't pinpoint a 'real' one immeadiately the only way such a group could of appeared so quickly is via her holograms. The transformation, on the other hand, does get him to take pause. Transforming into that mode atop the transport wasn't not highly expected. The energy blast it spews out of the array plows into him head on, hurtling the Predacon backwards until he crashes into one of the stacks of construction supplies with a heavy crunch. Good thing that wasn't actually the reactor! Some smoke can be seen hissing up from the resulting ramshackle pile. Said smoke seems to be coming from the lion head and mane that the blast burned through, several of the mane's panels now warped and mishapen from the intensity... just that instead of being on Razorclaw's chest as he thrusts himself out of the mess he's back in lion mode. And leaps towards the hovercraft, namesake claws ready to rend through what remains of Imager's armor after his previous attack. Razorclaw lunges forward to land as a massive, mightly lion. Let the hunt begin! Combat: Battle Lion sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Battle Lion strikes Heavy Hovercraft mager> with his OH SHIT ITS A LION GET IN THE CA.. Wait you ARE the car attack! -2 Combat: Battle Lion (Razorclaw) used "Mauling": A Level 5 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 19 damage. Combat: Battle Lion 's attack has damaged your Velocity! <'Autobot'> Imager says, "there goes my hoverjets" Blast Off huffs at Arcee's taunt, but he's not so distracted as to fail to dodge her shot. "Like I would lower myself to come down and face you on YOUR level, that of a mere groundpounder. I am far better than that..." he sniffs disdainfully. Of course, the truth of the matter is that he knows he'd do very poorly if he got close. Hand to hand is most definitely NOT his strong point. Sniping from above? That is. To further make his point of smug aerial superiority, he begins to look bored again. "Very few CAN reach my level, of course... I'm much more sophisticated than the average mech..." He pauses, then starts rummaging through subspace until he pulls out an empty wine bottle. "OH, that reminds me.... I think you wanted this back, didn't you?" It's an Orion 3 Orchards bottle. Blast Off drops it- aimed straight at Arcee and the gunners. Combat: Blast Off strikes Arcee with his BombsAway (Punch) attack! 's hoverjets spark and falter, sending her to the ground. Quickly, she transforms back into a kneeling position. Parts of her aren't transforming fully due to that rending assault. She grunts, as the small army of her flicker. She points en masse to Razorclaw, "D..Didn't hurt!" She lies. "An you'll never beat me, cuz you won't know..." And just at that moment, her images flicker out. Again, she is given pause. "Erm...." Her gaze turns to Arcee over there, fighting the Combaticon sniper. Drones and security officers engage in a brutal shoot out. The drones simply don't care about the losses, and are cut down, however they have numbers still. She bawls up her fist, muttering softly enough Razorclaw can hear it. "Never live it down if I bail from this guy....but I..." A roar of air and magnificence announces a new presence on the battlefield. Clouds part as a mighty Autobot shape looms over the field from the clouds. The mighty Sky Lynx appears, completing his entrance with an attention-getting slam onto the ground. His eyes are solely on Razorclaw. ""Ahhh...I thought I smelt something." That wasn't a typo, Sky Lynx' powerful Acetlyne Blaster rolls out of his mouth as he stalks forwards towards the Transport. "Didn't I tell you before about hunting on MY terrain, little mech?" Rallied by the sudden appearance of Autobot High Command, Imager rushes Razorclaw, "I told him somethin similar!" just attempting to bury her fist into him again as hard as she can manage now. 's hoverjets spark and falter, sending her to the ground. Quickly, she transforms back into a kneeling position. Parts of her aren't transforming fully due to that rending assault. She grunts, as the small army of her flicker. She points en masse to Razorclaw, "D..Didn't hurt!" She lies. "An you'll never beat me, cuz you won't know..." And just at that moment, her images flicker out. Again, she is given pause. "Erm...." Her gaze turns to Arcee over there, fighting the Combaticon sniper. Drones and security officers engage in a brutal shoot out. The drones simply don't care about the losses, and are cut down, however they have numbers still. She bawls up her fist, muttering softly enough Razorclaw can hear it. "Never live it down if I bail from this guy....but I..." A roar of air and magnificence announces a new presence on the battlefield. Clouds part as a mighty Autobot shape looms over the field from the clouds. The mighty Sky Lynx appears, completing his entrance with an attention-getting slam onto the ground. His eyes are solely on Razorclaw. ""Ahhh...I thought I smelt something." That wasn't a typo, Sky Lynx' powerful Acetlyne Blaster rolls out of his mouth as he stalks forwards towards the Transport. "Didn't I tell you before about hunting on MY terrain, little mech?" Rallied by the sudden appearance of Autobot High Command, Imager rushes Razorclaw, "I told him somethin similar!" just attempting to bury her fist into him again as hard as she can manage now. Heavy Hovercraft mager> 's hoverjets spark and falter, sending her to the ground. Quickly, she transforms back into a kneeling position. Parts of her aren't transforming fully due to that rending assault. She grunts, as the small army of her flicker. She points en masse to Razorclaw, "D..Didn't hurt!" She lies. "An you'll never beat me, cuz you won't know..." And just at that moment, her images flicker out. Again, she is given pause. "Erm...." Her gaze turns to Arcee over there, fighting the Combaticon sniper. Drones and security officers engage in a brutal shoot out. The drones simply don't care about the losses, and are cut down, however they have numbers still. She bawls up her fist, muttering softly enough Razorclaw can hear it. "Never live it down if I bail from this guy....but I..." A roar of air and magnificence announces a new presence on the battlefield. Clouds part as a mighty Autobot shape looms over the field from the clouds. The mighty Sky Lynx appears, completing his entrance with an attention-getting slam onto the ground. His eyes are solely on Razorclaw. ""Ahhh...I thought I smelt something." That wasn't a typo, Sky Lynx' powerful Acetlyne Blaster rolls out of his mouth as he stalks forwards towards the Transport. "Didn't I tell you before about hunting on MY terrain, little mech?" Rallied by the sudden appearance of Autobot High Command, Imager rushes Razorclaw, "I told him somethin similar!" just attempting to bury her fist into him again as hard as she can manage now. The hovercraft shudders, then folds in half. Imager stands up from around it, her ramplates becoming her pauldrons as the last step. hImager fades from view. Hologram Generator has scheduled your hImager(#7791Tp) for destruction. You get your 10 Useless BotCon Passes deposit back for hImager(#7791TG). Halted: hImager(#7791) hSky Lynx has arrived. Type 'holo ' to control your hologram. Type '+holo/dismiss' to turn it off. Halted: hSky Lynx(#7791) Combat: Imager misses Battle Lion with her Deus Ex Magnifica! attack! Combat: Drained 11 energon. When Blast Off hurls the empty bottle, it gives out a hollow < DOONK! > off of one of the gunner mech's heads, then Arcee catches it by the neck. Remarkably, it's still intact. She peers inside, then smirks. "...I didn't want it back EMPTY! What good is that? Except, for maybe.../this/!" She whips the bottle, which sails end-over-end, toward Blast Off's noggin. Combat: Arcee misses Blast Off with her Smash attack! <'Autobot'> Imager says, "uhmmmmmmm you might want to hope that this works" Battle Lion 's ears cant forward a bit at the sound of seemingly familar voice arriving bombasticly onto the field... but something is amiss. He doesn't smell the typical rocket engine fumes that accompany the shuttle-dragon's usual arrivals. Hmm. Yet at the same time, this is a crutial point one cannot simply presume such matters. The real Sky Lynx could make short work of him in his current state, if it is such. Time was of the essence, now. "Then we shall just have to finish this swiftly, no?" However the analysis of the changing situation doesn't distract him from the current confrontation. His head snaps to the side as Imager make a swing at it, then jerks back to snap down on her arm. The bite is one thing. The other is when that he pushes his remaining strength to the straining point, ignoring the protesting systems in an attempt to physically heave the larger femme and throw her aside. Combat: Battle Lion strikes Imager with his Heaving Chomp (Smash) attack! Combat: Battle Lion (Razorclaw) used "Smash": A Level 3 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 9 damage. Combat: Battle Lion 's attack has damaged your Agility! <'Autobot'> Imager says, "Arcee" <'Autobot'> Imager says, "I gotta...I can't..." <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "No apologies, just go before you can't! Quickly!" <'Autobot'> Imager says, "......" Blast Off suddenly sees- Sky lynx appear? The Combaticon blinks and watches as the huge Autobot comes down and lands. "Well, /now/ things gets interesting.... Long time no see, Sky Lynx." But Sky Lynx seems to ignore him, which seems... quite odd. The two space shuttles have a grudging respect for each other, after all, and both put on polite airs when around each other. But he doesn't have a lot of time to ponder the oddity, for Arcee responds in kind, throwing the bottle right back at him. He huffs again. "Really? So sorry. Tsk, well... a game of catch, then, perhaps?..." The shuttleformer darts after the bottle, grabbing it, then throws it back at Arcee- hard- aiming to smash it this time. Combat: Blast Off strikes Arcee with his Catch! (Kick) attack! <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "We'll just need to try again another time." And there she goes, straight onto her back, which shakes the transport, and then slides off of it, right into and THROUGH Sky Lynx. She actually bounces from the hit. Imager starts to pull herself up, and pauses when she sees Razorclaw there on the transport. Her vocalizer actually freezes as she attempts to say the words, her hands grip the metal of Cybertron as her frustration and ego battle within her. Sky Lynx disappears as quickly as he appears, his image shaking once then dissipating. She was wounded. This...this Predacon actually wounded her, and old memories started to come back. Failure after failure during the Great Shutdown. hSky Lynx fades from view. Arcee is in somewhat better shape than Imager -- which isn't saying a lot. Even so, she sure as slag won't be in any shape to salvage if she remains on this transport, with Razorclaw AND Blast Off. Time to cut-and-run. Yes, it's humiliating, but it's just going to make her try even harder next time. "I'll bet you *guzzled* that enerwine," she tells Blast Off, only because she knows it'll get to him. "I'll bet you drank it down like a common transport truck." She grins -- then suddenly bounds off the side of the transport. Definitely not sticking around, nope. Arcee darts ahead to gracefully transform into her pink Cybertronian Tech Car, enging purring, ready to go! Combat: Pink Saturn Sky begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. ___ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ / __| / _ \ | \| | / __| | | | | | (__ | (_) | | .` | \__ \ |_| |_| \___| \___/ |_|\_| |___/ (_) (_) It -was- a hologram! She was clever, he had to give her that much credit. Had he not been in the mode with the heightened senses he may of not been suspicious of the display. As much as the predator in him wants to jump off the transport and finish her off, Razorclaw reigns in the impulse. She was leave, the Autobots were routed, he had other matters to attend to. And injuries to deal with afterwards. Instead he turns away, regarding the rest of the fight that had been going on around them. A good number of drones have been damaged or even destroyed, but their numbers had kept the Autobot troopers at bay. And with the orders to retreat they were backing off, trying to get their own wounded off the transport safely. Smoke hisses from a few overstressed joints as Razorclaw transforms, and strides down the length of the transport. Any Autobots in his way are just shoved aside and left at that, they were unworthy of his effort now and left to do whatever they did the leave. The pilot was just getting out of the drive station, but turns only to find the point of Razorclaw's sword at his neck. "Keep driving. Don't do anything stupid and you may get to live another cycle." The pilot makes the equivilent to a gulping sound and slinks shamefully back into the driver's seat. Hoping obeying gains him some sort of reprise afterwards is his only option at the moment. Razorclaw rises up into his formidable robot mode. Blast Off watches as "Sky Lynx" disappears. Ah, that explains it. Then Arcee insults him- and OH, what an insult it is! The Combaticon stares a moment, shocked. WUT. Finally, there's a loud HUFFFF of indignation. "How DARE you! I'll have you know I would never be so crude! Back in the old days, I used to consider quite the connoisseur, in fact. And..." He would keep bloviating, but Arcee's already taken off. There's another loud hufff and he finally lowers himself to hover just above the transport, raising his weapon to take potshots at the fleeing transport personnel if they don't appear to be fleeing quite fast enough. "Well, Razorclaw... it appears you get to play for awhile, after all." Arcee moves south to the Sagros Plains. Arcee has left. "Logistics will have most of the fun with this, it is primarily construction materials. That power reactor is a nice prize, however." Razorclaw isn't directly threatening the pilot at this point, but just his proximity is enough to make the poor mech hunch down in his seat as he drives towards Cronum and try to not leak his oilpan. "The important matter is that it is no longer in Autobot hands. And that the drones have proven to be effective. If a bit... underwhelming in power." Blast Off glances towards the drones heading away from them. "Well, they are useful... but they cannot replace actual warriors." He shrugs and looks towards Nova Cronum. "Indeed. The taking of Nova Cronom has almost been ridiculously easy. The Autofools have become complacent. I am glad to be showing them the error of that complacency. It is far past time the Decepticons became more proactive on Cybertron, after all." "Correct on both accounts. The drones are not soldiers, they are weapons. And a weapon is only strong when it is properly used." He glances over his shoulder a moment, then hffs faintly. "Could prehaps use some bigger guns on a few heavy hitters though." Razorclaw turns his attention back to watching Nova Cronum coming up in the distance and closing. "When you next see your group commander Blast Off, tell him I am.. satisfied with his work with the drones thus far." As close as a compliment as the tactician is likely going to get from another. Rumble has arrived. A tiny figure can be seen flying toward the transport from the direction of Nova Cronum. It appears to be Rumble, coming over to check out the transport. Specifically, he's looking for things he can steal easily or maybe someone who needs punching out, but that should come as no surprise to anyone. Blast Off nods. "Very well, I shall. Onslaught is quite busy, of course, so even I haven't seen much of him lately. But I'm sure he is coming up with yet more brilliant plans." Blast Off doesn't think highly of many planet-bound mechs, but Onslaught has always been one of the few he does. "Why" is lost to history, it seems. "And a tool is only as good as the cerebro-cortex behind it, as you say." The Combaticon pauses as his scanners pick up something incoming. He glances over as Rumble approaches. "Ah, Rumble. I took very good care of that wine the other night. I assure you nothing went to waste." Razorclaw merely glances up at the approaching form. Not surprise one of Soundwave's would be sent to check things out. He just maybe expected Laserbeak or Ratbat instead. Then turns his attention back to the transport pilot. "Take the transport to the rail yard where it can be unloaded." Combat: Your COMBAT flag has been cleared. "That's great! Hey, I gotta GREAT one for the next time!" Rumble says to Blast Off cheerfully. Whatever strange friendship is brewing here, it must seem a bit suspicious in nature to those who know the completely different personalities of the two mechs. Razorclaw gets a respectful nod, and Rumble offers, "I can help with that." Razorclaw returns Rumble's nod without looking away from watching the path ahead of them. Just because the pilot is surrounded by three Decepticons that would end his spark without a second thought is no reason to not expect he might try something if he gets the chance. "That is fine. It needs to be unloaded and stored quickly, before the Autobots attempt to take it back." Blast Off raises an optic ridge. "Oh, you do, do you?" He says quietly, and not without a small trace of skepticism. "I ...can't wait." The Combaticon watches the others, ready to shoot the pilot should he try anything. "I must admit, Razorclaw, your battle tactics are noteworthy, as well. You seem to have extensive experience in combat and fighting techniques..." Rumble cheerfully begins going about his business, and much like an ant, he can lift quite a bit more than it appears he's capable of lifting. Sometimes the pallets and the crates he carries off the transport are many times his size, but he's done this sort of thing for millions of years so he's very used to the grunt work by now. Once in a while, when he's pretty sure no one is looking, he helps himself to a couple of supplies. He considers it a little tip for a job well done. The faintest of chuckles emits from Razorclaw. Almost creepily so considering he lacks much of a facial expression most of the time. "Not always in these forms but the Predacons have hunted the battlefield for longer than many realize. Just not always the most obvious ones." Once the transport has stopped and the unloading begins he grabs the pilot by the back of his neck, hoists him out of the driver's seat, and tosses him aside to some guards. "Take him out of the city, beat the slag out of him, but don't kill him. Let him crawl back home a broken, shamed wreck. Much more of a morale impact. Let those within the city that still resist us see the results of those whom do not wisely submit to the stronger." "Wait, what was that?" Rumble peers around a pallet. "Someone need beaten up??" he asks, expression brightening. Blast Off watches Rumble lift crates and do the grunt work. As long as someone else is doing it, that's fine with him. He's not going to care, either, if Rumble filches a thing or two.. as long as it's nothing important. He will make notes, however, if he ever needs to conveniently "remember" Rumble's pilfering later. "Careful, don't drop those..." Razorclaw gets a steady look, as Blast Off tries to figure out just what he meant by that. Well, many of them have their own rather complicated backstories, don;t they? Not that many ever share them. "I suppose so..." He watches as Razorclaw tosses the pilot to the guards and nods in approval. "Yes... quite the tactician." "You don't gotta worry about me droppin' things, I ain't Flywheels the walkin' disaster!" Rumble promises Blast Off. Razorclaw watchs as the pilot is dragged off to his fate. Razorclaw did say he might live if his complied, he never said it would be in one piece. "As I'm sure you know working with someone like Onslaught, controlling the battlefield is as much a mental discipline as it is a physical one. Demoralized enemies are less effective, less efficient, and more likely to break down if bad things turn worse for them. Seeing an enemy outclassed encourges better performance from those amongst our ranks," he gives a sidelong glance in Rumble's direction, "that enjoy such things." "Next guy who needs an aftwhippin', I'm your mech," Rumble says proudly. "I can dole 'em out real good. I gotta gold star in kickin' tail." Blast Off raises an optic ridge at Rumble, then looks back to Razorclaw. "Indeed. You and Onslaught seem to think somewhat alike in that regard. I certainly do my best to let my enemies know just how *outclassed* they are in my presence. And it can make them act angrily and rashly. Which... just makes them easier for me to pick off from the air." Razorclaw mmhmms, turning back to the two mechs. Rumble reminds him a lot of Tantrum. Which isn't a bad thing, when you know how to use it. "For all her potential as a combatant that fembot never realized until the end I had been working her into my own advantage. You saw how she reacted when I mutilated her armor, yes? Only for her rage to fail into dispair when she realized I had destroyed her ability to protect herself or others. While I doubt her spirit is broken for good, it certainly put her in her place tonight." Rumble smirks, and moves some more cargo. It kind of annoys him that he missed all the action -- even if 'all the action' appears to have been scaring a couple of femmes. It beats guard or patrol duty! And he didn't even get to beat up that transport pilot, either. It isn't like he asks for MUCH! He just wants a little violence once in a while. "Aw, is that all it was? Maybe they're just, like, giving this city to us, y'think?" Blast Off nods to Razorclaw. "Yes. Autofools tend to overestimate themselves..." (Pot calling the kettle black much here?) "...and that is easily manipulated and controlled." He looks to Rumble and snarks, "Yes, I'm sure they're just "giving" us an entire city. Because of the generosity of their sparks. ...Don't you have some transport gumbies to go terrorize? I'm sure if you went flying after them you'd find a few..." "Give, no. But so far their attempts at parlaying us have been... lacking." Things here seem to be in hand, even with Rumble skimming a bit off the top for himself. So Razorclaw engages his anti-gravs and takes off. "I must have my injuries seen to before the next incursion attempt is made. Don't touch the reactor, Rumble, I'll send engineers to deal with that piece of equipment." And with that he's flying away. "Pfft. That ain't what I said," Rumble gets mouthy with Blast Off. "I'm just wonderin' why we ain't seen more outta them. The heavy guns. Why just send a couple of broads to guard a transport?" He nods to Razorclaw. "Understood." Blast Off 's optics narrow at the Cassetticon, and he leans in... then pauses. Hmm. He sighs and straightens up again. "That... is actually a good question. And I do wonder if they have something else planned, and this was simply a distraction. Then again, we might simply be giving the Autofools too much credit there." He glances around. "We have many patrols, many scouts... and so far nothing. So perhaps they simply are...Autofools." "Hmm. Yeah, that's pretty probable. Seen it enough t'know." He takes the final pallet off the transport...this one happens to be one that really seems more than Blast Off could ever handle by himself, which begs the question...how strong did Soundwave MAKE the little punk, anyhow?? "Nngh. OK, that's the last one," he exclaims as he sets it down. Blast Off watches him work, and ...yeah, Rumble is almost assuredly stronger than he is, physically. But THAT IS OKAY... because being fast and accurate is obviously SO MUCH BETTER ANYWAY. Ahem. "You actually seem to enjoy doing that. Easily amused, I suppose. Very well, that should be about all that is required, then." He pauses, "Unless.... you happened to have more wine on you..." "Why you keep sayin' I'm 'easily amused', hah?? Izzat some kinda homenism for 'stupid'?" Rumble asks, looking suspicious. "Cause I ain't no idiot. An' I don't want you playin' me for one, got that?? I think I'm smart. I expand past my original programmin'...learn NEW THINGS...willin' to SHARE things...you get me?? The street goes both ways." Blast Off holds up his hands as if to indicate he meant no harm. "Me? Call you an idiot? I wouldn't /dream/ of being so crude. Certainly not of one who is willing to learn about the cultured life... and share in it." Basically, he's hoping Rumble will give him more wine. "I would expect anything Soundwave produces to have at least *some* processing capacity, after all." "Thank you!" Rumble says, backing off his sudden hostilities a bit. "Mmkay, I misunderestimated you, kinda." He cracks the servos in his hand-joints a few times, then announces: 'Observe.' He pulls a bottle of enerwine from subspace! "Wah-LA! Refinement at its peak: 2028 Vintage Limited Edition Turbo-Noir from the fertile plains of Sagros!" Blast Off continues to look the picture of refinement and sophistication, which only gets more pronounced when Rumble whips out the bottle. And it took some doing, especially when Rumble talked about how he "misunderestimated you". Sigh, what he does to get some wine... "Ah! Impressive!" The shuttleformer nods. "You're developing a keen eye." "I'm studyin' on this stuff," Rumble says proudly. He then produces two wine glasses, holding them appropriately and pouring out an amount for Blast Off, very politely offering him the glass before pouring one for himself. He's got the entire act down pat. He even pours properly. "Woodsy an' mahogany notes," he declares, "With a bold finish an' a keen, energetic pallor, unique to Sagros-distilled product." Blast Off just..... stares. Wait, what? ....Is some of this actually rubbing off on the little hooligan? He watches as Rumble pours... and while he's obviously not experienced, he does much better than the Combaticon would have ever expected. "Uh..." He continues staring a moment, then shakes his head. "Oh, yes. That... I'm... where'd you even learn "mahagony notes"?" He steps closer, accepting the glass, then brings it up to swish the glass and sniff the aroma himself. "I'm... impressed." Rumble is the same mech that trashed Blast Off's cargo area mere cycles ago. Same little punk. Only he, like the other tapes, has the capacity to learn and adapt very quickly when need be. If he had even MORE brainpower, he could probably be a little marvel like Ravage or Buzzsaw. But he makes do with what he has. Rumble just knows that Blast Off has a soft spot for enerwine, so he's decided it's within his best interest to become learned on the topic, which COULD end up saving his metal hide someday should he and Frenzy decide to repeat that amazing stunt. It gives him...leverage. Big word, but very important. "The enerhol content is kinda on the 'high' side," Rumble explains, "And somewhat flammable under certain conditions. But the potency is evened out by its mellow composition, soothed by the earthy undertones. Can you sense it??" Blast Off just...stares at Rumble some more. Then he glances to his wine glass, wondering if he started drinking a lot and just doesn't remember it... but nope, wine glass is still full. Slightly baffled, he looks back at the Casetticon. "That's... right. Uh. Yes." He blinks. Then he remembers himself, and the more aloof look returns. He holds the glass up, appreciating the aroma. "Yes... the high enerhol content gives it a somewhat bigger "kick", but they have aged it for a long time, allowing for the increased mellowness. You should try a 2013 vintage sometime... that was a good year." Satisfied with the aroma, the Combaticon takes a sip. "Very nice." Then he looks to Rumble. "...Why the sudden interest in... culture?" He half suspects something like what Rumble actually has planned, but while he's not expecting a straight answer if so, perhaps he can at least get an idea..... Rumble swirls and sips, swirls and sips like a gentlemech. But when Blast Off's question comes up, he grins because he already has an answer planned. It isn't a lie, but of course, it isn't the complete truth, either. "Welp...y'know I like lootin' stores. Always have. I loot the enerhol stores too. But I never stopped t'really THINK about what I was takin'. I just knew that all I hadda do was beat up the store clerk, smash a few shelves, then take what I wanted to get. But I think you made me go, 'Well, what's in these bottles I'm takin'?' Each one is different, it like, has its own 'profile', its own personality if you will. I thought that was kind of a cool concept, so last night I archived the Galactipedia's entry on enerwine." Blast Off ...is impressed. He doesn't want to admit it, but... he is. He still suspects Rumble's not giving him a complete answer, but... there almost seems to be a grain of truth in what he's saying, too. "That's... good to hear. I certainly would encourage appreciation of valuables, as opposed to their blind destruction. Learning their value does lead to increased appreciation, enjoyment... and benefit, too. When you know the difference between Orion 3 Orchards and, say, some cheap wine like Cogwheel... you know what to spend your time on and what simply isn't worth it." He keeps on, "Now, some say that because we pretty much live forever, why worry about how we spend time? But I say, why waste your time on frivolous things? *I* want to make sure my time is spent on things with value, and meaning, and ...quality!" He clasps a fist together as he makes his point, getting swept up in his speech. "Why go for the lowest common denominator? I want only the BEST! It's not so much to ask, is it?" He turns to look at Rumble intensely. "IS IT?" "NO, it ain't too much to ask, mech! We go through enough in our everyday jobs -- let's live it up a little!" Rumble exclaims. Blast Off nods. "Sounds good to me." He lifts up his glass for a toast. "To.... "living it up"." Rumble very, very gently *clinks* the wine glass against the Combaticon's. "Here, here!" He grins cheekily, then swirls and sips. What he isn't telling Blast Off is that after *this* nice little suaree, he's going to pick up one of his 'friends' in Kaon, and they're going to get tanked on some Cogwheel. But that's later.